Honours Mechanical Engineering (142 credits)

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Offered by: Mechanical Engineering
Degree: Bachelor of Engineering

Program Requirements

Program credit weight: 142-148 credits

Program credit weight for Quebec CEGEP students: 119 credits

Program credit weight for out-of-province students: 142 credits

To prepare the mechanical engineer for a wide range of career possibilities, there is a heavy emphasis in our curriculum on the fundamental analytical disciplines. This is balanced by a sequence of experimental and design Engineering courses, which include practice in design, manufacturing, and experimentation. In these courses, students learn how to apply their analytical groundwork to the solution of practical problems.

The Honours program is particularly suitable for those with a high aptitude in mathematics and physics and gives a thorough grounding in the basic engineering sciences.

Special interests are satisfied by selecting appropriate complementary courses from among those offered with a specific subject concentration, such as management, industrial engineering, computer science, controls and robotics, bio-engineering, aeronautics, combustion, systems engineering, etc.

Required Year 0 (Freshman) Courses

29 credits

Generally, students admitted to Engineering from Quebec CEGEPs are granted transfer credit for these Year 0 (Freshman) courses and enter a 119-credit program.

Required Non-Departmental Courses

Overview

Communication (CCE) : Written and oral communication in Engineering (in English): strategies for generating, developing, organizing, and presenting ideas in a technical setting; problem-solving; communicating to different audiences; editing and revising; and public speaking. Course work based on academic, technical, and professional writing in engineering.

Restrictions: COMP 202 and COMP 208 cannot both be taken for credit. COMP 202 is intended as a general introductory course, while COMP 208 is intended for students interested in scientific computations. Credits for either of these courses will not count towards the 60-credit Major in Computer Science. COMP 208 cannot be taken for credit with or after COMP 250.

Overview

Faculty Course : Introduction to engineering practice; rights and code of conduct for students; professional conduct and ethics; engineer's duty to society and the environment; sustainable development; occupational health and safety; overview of the engineering disciplines taught at McGill.

Overview

Faculty Course : A course designed to provide all Engineering students with further training regarding their responsibilities as future Professional Engineers. Particular focus will be placed on three professional characteristics that future engineers must demonstrate: i) professionalism, ii) ethical and equitable behaviour, and iii) consideration of the impact of engineering on society and the environment.

Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Overview

Mathematics & Statistics (Sci) : First order ODEs. Second and higher order linear ODEs. Series solutions at ordinary and regular singular points. Laplace transforms. Linear systems of differential equations with a short review of linear algebra.

Required Mechanical Engineering Courses

Overview

Mechanical Engineering : The practice of Mechanical Engineering: its scope and context. The role of Design. Introduction to the Design process. The role of engineering analysis and socio-economic factors in Design. Introduction to the individual mechanical engineering subjects and their role in Design. Case studies.

Overview

Mechanical Engineering : The design process, including free-hand sketching; from geometry construction to manufacturing drawings; the technology and standards of engineering graphic communication; designing with CAD software. The role of visualization in the production of mechanical engineering designs.

Terms: Fall 2017, Winter 2018

Instructors: Alexei V Morozov (Fall) Yaoyao Zhao (Winter)

(2-3-4)

Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken MECH 289. Open only to Mechanical Engineering students. Open only to students in Year 1.

Overview

Mechanical Engineering : Numerical techniques for problems commonly encountered in Mechanical Engineering are presented. Chebyshev interpolation, quadrature, roots of equations in one or more variables, matrices, curve fitting, splines and ordinary differential equations. The emphasis is on the analysis and understanding of the problem rather than the details of the actual numerical program.

Overview

Mechanical Engineering : Theory and practice of modern manufacturing processes: machining, forming, and casting. Producing parts using computer assisted tools from CAD to CNC machining followed by measurement of part quality. Hands-on machining of parts.

Overview

Mechanical Engineering : Experiments will be performed in four areas: MECH 240 Thermodynamics, MECH 315 Vibrations, MECH 331 Fluid Mechanics 1, and MECH 346 Heat Transfer. Students should sign up to do experiments in one or more areas the term following the completion of one or more of the above courses. Students will not formally register for this course until the term in which they will complete all of the experiments.

Overview

Mechanical Engineering : This course, together with MECH 404, involves a research project containing both engineering theory and design components, and requiring a theoretical and/or experimental investigation. Students are supervised by the course instructor and mentored by one or more staff members. The work culminates with the submission of a thesis.

Overview

Mechanical Engineering : An advanced design project course with emphasis on analytical solutions, performance prediction and validation, and planning for production. Students are supervised by the course instructor and mentored by one or more staff members.

Overview

Mechanical Engineering : The role of optimization within the design process: Design methodology and philosophy. Constrained optimization: The Kuhn-Tucker conditions. Techniques of linear and non-linear programming. The simplex and the complex methods. Sensitivity of the design to manufacturing errors. Robustness of the design to manufacturing and operation errors.

Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Overview

Mechanical Engineering : Value Engineering is an in-depth analysis of an industrial product or process with a view to improving its design and/or performance to increase its worth. This is a workshop type of course. Projects will be supplied by industrial firms and students will work in teams with industrial personnel.

Overview

Mechanical Engineering : Aircraft performance criteria such as range, endurance, rate of climb, maximum ceiling for steady and accelerated flight. Landing and take-off distances. Static and dynamic stability in the longitudinal (stick-fixed and stick-free) and coupled lateral and directional modes. Control response for all three modes.

Overview

Mechanical Engineering : The role of kinematic synthesis within the design process. Degree of freedom. Kinematic pairs and bonds. Groups and subgroups of displacements. Applications to the qualitative synthesis of parallel-kinematics machines with three and four degrees of freedom. Function, motion and path generation problems in planar, spherical and spatial four-bar linkages. Extensions to six-bar linkages. Cam mechanisms.

Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Since the course is open to both undergraduate and graduate students, and B- is the minimum passing mark for graduate students, this minimum mark will be relaxed for undergraduates. The regulations applicable to undergraduates will apply accordingly.

Overview

Mechanical Engineering : The role of optimization within the design process: Design methodology and philosophy. Constrained optimization: The Kuhn-Tucker conditions. Techniques of linear and non-linear programming. The simplex and the complex methods. Sensitivity of the design to manufacturing errors. Robustness of the design to manufacturing and operation errors.

Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

3 credits chosen from courses at the 300-level or higher (approved by the Department) in the Faculty of Engineering (including MECH courses) or from MIME 260 or from courses at the 300 level or higher in the Faculty of Science, including MATH courses.

Complementary Studies

6 credits

Group A - Impact of Technology on Society

Overview

Anthropology : Processes of developmental change, as they affect small communities in the Third World and in unindustrialized parts of developed countries. Problems of technological change, political integration, population growth, industrialization, urban growth, social services, infrastructure and economic dependency.

Overview

Biotechnology : Examination of particular social and ethical challenges posed by modern biotechnology such as benefit sharing, informed consent in the research setting, access to medical care worldwide, environmental safety and biodiversity and the ethical challenges posed by patenting life.

Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Overview

Economics (Arts) : A study of the application of economic theory to questions of environmental policy. Particular attention will be given to the measurement and regulation of pollution, congestion and waste and other environmental aspects of specific economies.

Overview

Economics (Arts) : The course focuses on the economic implications of, and problems posed by, predictions of global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. Attention is given to economic policies such as carbon taxes and tradeable emission permits and to the problems of displacing fossil fuels with new energy technologies.

Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Overview

Geography : Introduction to geography as the study of nature and human beings in a spatial context. An integrated approach to environmental systems and the human organization of them from the viewpoint of spatial relationships and processes. Special attention to environmental problems as a constraint upon Third World development.

Overview

Geography : An introduction to system-level interactions among climate, hydrology, soils and vegetation at the scale of drainage basins, including the study of the global geographical variability in these land-surface systems. The knowledge acquired is used to study the impact on the environment of various human activities such as deforestation and urbanisation.

Terms: Fall 2017

Instructors: Timothy R Moore, Gail L Chmura (Fall)

Fall

3 hours

Restriction: Because of quantitative science content of course, not recommended for B.A. and B.Ed. students in their U0 year.

Overview

Geography : An examination of global change, from the Quaternary Period to the present day involving changes in the physical geography of specific areas. Issues such as climatic change and land degradation will be discussed, with speculations on future environments.

Overview

Management Policy : This course explores the relationship between economic activity, management, and the natural environment. Using readings, discussions and cases, the course will explore the challenges that the goal of sustainable development poses for our existing notions of economic goals, production and consumption practices and the management of organizations.

Overview

Philosophy : An investigation of ethical issues as they arise in the practice of medicine (informed consent, e.g.) or in the application of medical technology (in vitro fertilization, euthanasia, e.g.)

Overview

Sociology (Arts) : An examination of the extent to which technological developments impose constraints on ways of arranging social relationships in bureaucratic organizations and in the wider society: the compatibility of current social structures with the effective utilization of technology.

Overview

Sociology (Arts) : The development of the world of work from the rise of industrial capitalism to the postindustrial age. Responses of workers and managers to changing organizational, technological and economic realities. Interrelations between changing demands in the workplace and the functioning of the labour market. Canadian materials in comparative perspective.

Overview

Urban Planning : The study of how urban planners respond to the challenges posed by contemporary cities world-wide. Urban problems related to the environment, shelter, transport, human health, livelihoods and governance are addressed; innovative plans to improve cities and city life are analyzed.

Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Overview

Architecture : Indigenous housing both transient and permanent, from the standpoint of individual structure and pattern of settlements. The principal historic examples of houses including housing in the age of industrial revolution and contemporary housing.

Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Overview

Business Admin : Concentrating on entrepreneurship and enterprise development, particular attention is given to the start-up, purchasing and management of small to medium-sized industrial firms. The focal point is in understanding the dilemmas faced by entrepreneurs, resolving them, developing a business plan and the maximum utilization of the financial, marketing and human resources that make for a successful operation.

Overview

Environment : Introduction to cultural perspectives on the environment: the influence of culture and cognition on perceptions of the natural world; conflicts in orders of knowledge (models, taxonomies, paradigms, theories, cosmologies), ethics (moral values, frameworks, dilemmas), and law (formal and customary, rights and obligations) regarding political dimensions of critical environments, resource use, and technologies.

Overview

Environment : Students work in interdisciplinary seminar groups on challenging philosophical, ethical, scientific and practical issues. They will explore cutting-edge ideas and grapple with the reconciliation of environmental imperatives and social, political and economic pragmatics. Activities include meeting practitioners, attending guest lectures, following directed readings, and organizing, leading and participating in seminars.

Overview

Faculty Course : This course combines several management functional areas such as marketing, financial, operations and strategy with the skills of creativity, engineering innovation, leadership and communications. Students learn how to design an effective and winning business plan around a technology or engineering project in small, medium or large enterprises.

Overview

Hispanic Studies (Arts) : A survey of historical and cultural elements which constitute the background of the Hispanic world up to the 18th century; a survey of the pre-Columbian indigenous civilizations (Aztec, Maya and Inca) and the conquest of America.

Overview

Hispanic Studies (Arts) : A survey of the constitution of the ideological and political structures of the Spanish Empire in both Europe and America until the Wars of Independence; a survey of the culture and history of the Hispanic people from the early 19th Century to the present.

Overview

Industrial Relations : An introduction to labour-management relations, the structure, function and government of labour unions, labour legislation, the collective bargaining process, and the public interest in industrial relations.

Overview

INTG : Essentials of management using an integrated approach. Three modules (managing money, managing people and managing information) cover fundamentals of accounting, finance, organizational behaviour and information systems; and illustrate how the effective management of human, financial and technological resources contributes to the success of an organization. Emphasizes an integrated approach to management, highlighting how organizations function as a whole and the importance of being able to work across functional and organizational boundaries.

Only open to U1, U2, U3 non-Management students. Not open to students in the Desautels Faculty of Management or students who have taken two or more of courses MGCR 211, MGCR 222 or MGCR 341.

Limited enrolment; priority registration to students in Minors in Entrepreneurship. Note: this course is not part of the Desautels Minors in Management, Finance, Marketing or Operations Management (for non-Management students).

Overview

INTG : Essentials of management using an integrated approach. Four modules (managing customer relationships, managing processes, managing digital innovation and managing the enterprise) cover fundamentals of marketing, strategy, operations and information systems; and illustrate how this knowledge is harnessed in an organization to create value for customers and other stakeholders. Emphasizes an integrated approach to management, highlighting how organizations function as a whole and the importance of being able to work across functional and organizational boundaries.

Restriction(s): Only open to U1, U2, U3 students. Not open to students in the Desautels Faculty of Management or students who have taken two or more of courses MGCR 331, MGCR 352, MGCR 423 or MGCR 472.

Limited enrolment; priority registration to students in Minors in Entrepreneurship. It is suggested that students take INTG 201 prior to INTG 202, but is not required. Note: this course is not part of the Desautels Minors in Management, Finance, Marketing or Operations Management (for non-Management Students).

Overview

Mathematics & Statistics (Sci) : Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Indian and Arab contributions to mathematics are studied together with some modern developments they give rise to, for example, the problem of trisecting the angle. European mathematics from the Renaissance to the 18th century is discussed in some detail.

Overview

Management Core : Individual motivation and communication style; group dynamics as related to problem solving and decision making, leadership style, work structuring and the larger environment. Interdependence of individual, group and organization task and structure.

Overview

Organizational Behaviour : Leadership theories provide students with opportunities to assess and work on improving their
leadership skills. Topics include: the ability to know oneself as a leader, to formulate a vision, to have the courage to lead, to lead creatively, and to lead effectively with others.

Terms: Fall 2017, Winter 2018

Instructors: Patricia Hewlin (Fall) Suzanne Gagnon (Winter)

Prerequisite: MGCR 222 or permission of Instructor and approval of the BCom Program Office.

** Note: INTG 201 and INTG 202 are not open to students who have taken certain Management courses. Please see the INTG 201 and INTG 202 course information for a list of these courses.

*** If you are uncertain whether or not a course principally imparts language skills, please see an adviser in the McGill Engineering Student Centre (Frank Dawson Adams building, Room 22) or email an adviser.

Note regarding languages courses: Language courses are not accepted to satisfy the Complementary Studies Group B requirement, effective for students who entered the program as of Fall 2017.

Revision, February 2018. End of revision.

Elective Courses

0-6 credits

Students from Quebec CEGEPs must take 6 credits of courses at the 200 level or higher from the following faculties/schools:

Desautels Faculty of Management

Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Faculty of Arts

Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Religious Studies

Faculty of Science

Schulich School of Music

Typical Program of Study

Students entering the program from CEGEP follow a different curriculum from those entering from out of province. Students will be advised by the Department as to which courses they should select from the course lists above.

For all minors and concentrations, students should complete a Course Authorization Form, available from the McGill Engineering Student Centre (Student Affairs Office) (Frank Dawson Adams Building, Room 22) or from the Undergraduate Program Coordinator, indicating their intention to take the minor or concentration.